Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Up 0.1%

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) traded up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $159.34 and last traded at $158.52. 926,217 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 7,328,859 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JNJ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $161.00 to $171.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Johnson & Johnson from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Johnson & Johnson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.21.

Johnson & Johnson Trading Up 0.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $382.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $151.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.06.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.11. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 36.60% and a net margin of 46.34%. The company had revenue of $22.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson & Johnson

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 297,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,685,000 after purchasing an additional 15,490 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 4.5% in the first quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,523,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Johnson & Johnson by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 19,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,070,000 after buying an additional 2,201 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 10,620,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,664,620,000 after acquiring an additional 498,647 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.